A Great Hockey Team 1946-47

By Patti Desjardins

Westmeath has a hockey record even Alberta’s Sutter Family can’t match: six Gervais brothers played on the same team in the same year. Added to that headline-grabbing record is the fact that our team won the Fraser Cup from Fort Coulonge who claimed it for 31 years running. Since it was the last year for the trophy, we kept it! (It’s current whereabouts are unknown. Perhaps it was lost in the 1983 fire.)

By all accounts, the team of 1946-47 was a motley crew. Some players were rather rusty due to their service in WWII. Other players such as John Gervais, Frank Ethier, and Emmett Ethier had skated at some time in the past, for

Fort Coulonge in the Pontiac League. Emotions ran pretty high for the big finale.Fort Coulonge and Westmeath beat out the other league teams from Shawville, Campbell’s Bay, and Forrester’s Falls to battle for the championship. In those days, players and fans crossed to games on the Quebec side by the ice road at La Passe.

As team secretary, Bill Grylls collected admissions for home games. A sponsor provided the big-white-W-on-maroon sweaters and socks, and players supplied their own equipment.

Tony Davis, both a player and owner of the opposing rink, said to John Gervais during the game, “Slow down, you’re going to beat the hell out of us.” John didn’t comply and scored the winning goal instead.

The score is now forgotten and whether or not we had home ice advantage, but everyone remembers the HUGE PARTY afterwards in the old Town Hall.

Over the years, there has rarely been a Westmeath squad without a Gervais or Ethier, but in the winter of 1946-47, those names comprised the whole team except for two players. Cohesion like that outmatched the confidence born of a long, winning streak.

The W.H.A. Fraser Cup: Where is This Old Hockey Trophy Hiding??

Have you seen the missing Fraser Cup? We want to solve The Mystery of the Whereabouts of the Fraser Cup. Can you help?

The cup was originally donated by William Henry Alexander Fraser,( known to the locals as W.H.A.) who operated the Fraser Lumber Company, first established by his father Alexander Fraser. Fraser lumbermen had logging operations throughout the area and a tugboat to move the cribs of logs on Lower Allumette Lake near Westmeath called the “Alex Fraser”was working in 1896.

After W.H.A moved from Westmeath to Ottawa he was shrewd enough to establish Fraser’s Farms below Westmeath (now the Bromley Farm and the Reeves Property on Rapid Road), to retain his skilled woodsmen year round by having them farm during the summer months.

The Fraser Trophy was a heavily contested item in the years before WW2 and many on-ice battles were waged here every winter to gain its possession. Teams from throughout this area wanted it for their own. It represented the best of hockey excellence for many in this part of the Valley on both sides of the river. But where is it now?

The most famous battle for this cup was also the last…. In 1946-47 the W.H.A. Fraser Cup was retired after a huge victory that year by the Westmeath Team – a team made famous by having six Gervais brothers all on the same team. It is pictured with the team in the photo accompanying Patti Desjardin’s article.

We want to track it down and recognize its historical significance to this community. It is a big part of our area’s hockey and lumbering heritage.

If you can solve this Mystery, please Contact Us with any tips or ideas you have.

Westmeath’s Link with the NHL

by Patti Desjardins

Villages and small towns across Canada often make much of links with an NHL player. Westmeath’s pride and joy was Jim Pappin, former Toronto Maple Leaf and Chicago Black Hawk, who scored the winning goal and lead the scoring in the 12-game playoff series in 1967 when the Leafs won their last NHL Championship.

Jim Pappin was not born and raised here, but his father Gerard was a Westmeath lad until he joined the labour exodus to Sudbury’s mines. The Pappin family usually returned to Westmeath each summer to visit relatives, especially Jim’s grandparents Sam and Bridget Pappin who lived at 96 Grace Street and are now buried in our Lady of Grace Cemetery.

Jim had hockey in his blood. His father played for Westmeath teams and he is related through marriages to Ethier and Gervais clans, well-known hockey dynasties. Many of Jim’s relatives and fans still have scrapbooks which track his career and his hockey cards are tucked away in closets and drawers.

Jim was born September 10, 1939 and played for OHA’s Toronto Marlboros and AHL’s Rochester Americans before hitting it big with the Maple Leafs. The 6 ft., 190 lb., right winger played 767 NHL games between 1963 and 1977. He scored 278 goals with 295 assists for 573 points. His best season was as a Black Hawk in 1972-73 when he scored 41 goals and earned 91 points.

Internet hockey chat lines and blogs say that Jim Pappin had loads of talent: speed, fine shot, and competitive attitude. He was really sharp in front of the net, capitalizing on rebounds and tip-ins. He played for coaches such a Don Cherry and Punch Imlach, and played with and against some of the biggest names in hockey: Mahovlich, Hull, Esposito, and Dryden.

Jim Pappin is currently a scout with the Chicago Black Hawks.

2004-2005 PEEWEE Winners

From Westmeath to Laredo – All Star all the way

By Joey Trimm

Neil Trimm was born February 15, 1983, the youngest of five children. He and his two brothers and sisters learned to skate at an early age at the rink in Westmeath. Neil was skating when he was three. His Brother Liam, a year older, was the first of the family however, to become interested in hockey.

The brothers were inseparable at that age and when Liam was selected to try out for the Muskrat All Star team the only way he would go was if Neil could go too. Although Neil was too young for the team, it was agreed with the understanding that he would likely only play in practices. It soon became apparent however, that Neil was one of the strongest players and the brothers played together for the All Stars for several years.
As it turned out hockey was not Liam’s passion and he eventually moved on to other interests while Neil’s skills continued to improve along with his love for the sport.

Although Neil was not one of the bigger players, nor the fastest skater, he more than made up for it with his puck handling skills and his keen understanding of the strategy of the game. After playing his formative years with the Muskrat organization and additionally AAA Summer Hockey Neil completed his final year of minor hockey with the Ottawa Valley Titan Midgets. This is an AA league and was a necessary step to be considered for the Junior level. Neil was drafted by the Pembroke Lumber Kings and played for them for four years; two of which he was named captain. During these years he became bigger, faster and generally a stronger player and in his final year he led the league in points and his team won the All Star game after which he was named the Most Valuable Player.

Much credit for Neil’s success as a hockey player can be attributed to the wonderful opportunities that he had while learning the sport. Much credit must go to the volunteers who keep the Muskrat organization going; from the coaches like Mac Kingan and Leo Regier, to the people in Westmeath who make the ice. Without the ample opportunity to play in good facilities and a supportive community Neil’s skills may well have gone unnoticed.

Neil now is fulfilling his hockey dream of having a professional career. He plays with the Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League, in Laredo, Texas.

Seen as one of the brightest prospects in the CHL, Neil was voted to the starting line-up to the 2011 All-Stars team for the CHL All-Star Game. In 43 regular season contests last season he had eight multi-point games and one multi-goal game. Trimm finished 10th in the league in rookie scoring in 2007-08 when he put up 44 points (17goals and 27assists) in 60 games.

During his four years at Neumann University in Aston, Pennsylvania, Neil was named an All-American, and a two-time ECAC West All-Star. He is the Neumann Knights (U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Assoc.) all-time leading scorer with 175 points, all-time leader in assists with 114, as well as second all-time in goals with 61. Trimm had his number retired by the Knights following the 2007-08 campaign.